Review: Dark Waters

The story of Dark Waters is based on a real-life case of legal practice. It depicts how Robert Billot (Mark Ruffalo) revealed information about the enormous damage done by the DuPont company while producing Teflon.

Dark Waters is the iconic example of a film whose revenues can only be attributed to its trailer. The trailer looked very intense and even terrifying, it felt like Todd Haynes created one of the best psychological films ever – a must-see almost. In actuality, however, Dark Waters is one of the most boring, drawn-out films about law ever.

Even though the cast looks exciting on paper, in reality, nobody is good and persuasive enough to impress. Ruffalo looks pathetic – such a high-profile actor cannot let himself be so poor.is facial expressions and emotions stay the same throughout the film; it doesn’t matter whether it is an intense episode or a calming one. Anne Hathaway plays a moody wife, who changes her opinion about her husband’s actions almost every time she appears on the screen. The only character who stays consistent is Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp), who shows a worried farmer with all applicable attributes.

However, it won’t be right to put all the blame on the actors’ shoulders. It’s doubtful that actors who played in many great films suddenly became the first-year student of acting courses. The main problem of this film is a poor screenplay, which starts with an unclear motivation for Robert, and ends with a heap of unnecessary characters and episodes throughout the film.

There is not enough drama, feelings and emotions in this story. It’s hard to imagine who can really enjoy this film; it’s not detailed enough to be a guide for lawyers, it’s not a good option for a Friday night as it’s too long, depressive and non-eventful. This film is just not good and special enough to watch.

2 stars

Image: Movie DB

Yaroslav Matveev is a screen contributor at Forge Press.

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